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| Food security bill stalled |
| Food security bill stalled in Parliament; Sharad Pawar to play mediator
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| INDIA
, 7-May-2013
10:58:36 AM |
| It's all-out war in Parliament as the government tries to push through its flagship food security bill and the Opposition refuses to vote on it until the two ministers smeared by scandal - Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railways Minister Pawan Bansal - are sacked. Parliament proceedings, which have been paralysed for weeks, were disrupted again today.
As the Congress leadership struggles to find a way out of the mess, Sharad Pawar, Agriculture Minister and chief of key UPA ally - the Nationalist Congress Party or NCP - has taken up the mantle of mediator. Once opposed to the food bill himself, Mr Pawar has reportedly reached out to the Left and the BJP and is trying to work out a compromise and get the bill through.
Sources say Mr Pawar is keen on a discussion taking place on the bill and is likely to meet the Prime Minister regarding the matter.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been under attack from the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, today reached out to the BJP leader in Parliament and walked with one hand on her shoulder, ostensibly to win support for the bill's passage.
Congress leader KV Thomas accused the BJP of trying to scuttle the food bill, and said, "This is a commitment of the government and we will pass it."
But that might not be a simple affair. Opposition parties are adamant that the bill be amended to accommodate their demands. "We will demand for universal coverage under the proposed food security regime as against the 67 per cent coverage proposed in the present Bill," senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said earlier today.
Many economically backward states have also opposed the bill in its present form. They are of the view that the poverty levels in different states must be taken into account before deciding on any exclusion ratios.
The National Food Security Bill aims to provide legal right over subsidised foodgrain to 67 per cent of the country's population.
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